Nice day for a concert
Today ended up pretty hectic, at least for a time. It's Sunday, so it's laundry day, so I got loads going right away. Mom had a Red Hat party, and there was a last-minute change since the original host was too sick to host, so her plans had to be altered and she left sooner than expected. I had things timed out in my head, and was doing fine with time…and then grandma called just as I was sitting down to lunch. There went a half-hour of my day. I mean, it was fine, but still--that left me with a time crunch, plus this exchange (approximated):
Grandma: So we have this sale coming up at the park, and I was thinking maybe your mom could take a day off from work to help me! (It's on a Friday. It's like a rummage sale; grandma would be selling items.)
Me: She just used her last sick day and I think it's too soon for her to arrange for a vacation day.
Grandma: Oh, well I was just thinking she could use one of her special days…
Me: ?
Grandma: …Like from when Papa was sick.
Me: You mean FMLA?
Grandma: Yeah!
Me: That's not how that works. Besides, that expired like two years ago.
Grandma: I think she signed up again when I had my accident.
Me: Okay, but that only lasts so long--it doesn't last the whole year. And it's for *medical* purposes.
Grandma: But she would be helping me!
Me: Your garage sale doesn't count! Besides, I think they require proof, like a doctor's note.
Grandma: …Oh. Guess I'll scratch that thought from my memory.
Yes, grandma. Good idea. Looks like I no longer have to question where my mother's deviousness comes from.
…Or mine, for that matter. :P
At this point I have to pull one load from the dryer, put the last load in the dryer, and take a shower. We got off the phone about 1, and I wanted to leave the house at 2 to run an errand. I was ready at 2, then realized I had to take the last load out of the dryer, so doing that all set me back 10 minutes. You know, it'll be fine, you're just making a quick run to the store.
Aldi is the closest market, and I needed a few things. Dad had called about noon, before grandma, to say he was on his way home and calling from Madison, and he told me he'd go shopping tomorrow. I let him know I needed stuff like milk and bread, so he said I could pick up what was necessary and he'd get the rest tomorrow. And…go! I was concerned my Aldi would be closed for construction--the North Aurora one had been closed for a number of weeks earlier this summer--but all was well. I'd also needed granola bars, yogurt, and some fruit for tomorrow (band starts back up, so I need to pack lunch and dinner). All was well, and I was in line behind someone with a small order which was nearly all scanned…and I realized the milk I'd grabbed expires on the 21st. Great. I usually make my milk last two weeks. So now I had to pull out of line and go back to find milk that didn't expire so quickly. There were only three half gallons of 2% milk, all of which expired on the 21st; no go. I ended up buying organic milk because somehow that doesn't expire until November, which frankly concerns me, but whatever. And, of course, by this time there's just one checker (there had been two when I first got there, but the other one's sign read closed), but there's a line, and the family in front of me had a very full cart. Of course. The checker directed me to go to a different line, though nobody was there yet. Uh…okay…and she was all, go ahead, start unpacking your cart. Shortly, another checker appeared, and I was done quickly, but it was chaotic enough to make my head spin. Also, because of the construction, the single door into the place opens up onto where you come out of the checkout lines, so as I'm trying to pull my cart off to the side to bag my items, this woman is coming in the door and just standing there. Could you move, please? I get out of the way, bag my stuff, but then when I go to leave, the door won't recognize me and won't open. The two little kids from the family with the full cart are waiting there for their family to finish and kind of staring at me. So glad this is fascinating. Can one of you, like, wave your arms to try and trigger the door? Somehow it ended up opening, and I got out of there, but for a quick 20-minute trip, it was way more exciting than I wanted it to be.
To my surprise, dad's car was in the driveway when I pulled up. I was only home for a few minutes, just enough time to put the food away and use the washroom. I caught him up on a few things, then left.
I've had today marked on my calendar for a while; my town has a community band now, led by my high school band director, and today was their first actual concert. They've performed for other civic things before, but they've never been on their own, the sole attraction. I wanted to support them, plus I know I appreciate it when people come to my concerts. Naturally, they played at the Peg Bond Center at the Riverwalk, with a rain location in City Hall just across the parking lot. There was a chance of rain, and in fact it tried to sprinkle at one point, but it wasn't even enough to pull out an umbrella, though I'd brought one just in case. A couple young friends of the band were entrusted to hand out programs; later, they carried around containers in case people wanted to donate to the band. They are their own entity, so no tax dollars support them, everyone has their own instruments and stands, that sort of thing; the only way they make money is through donations. The concert itself was free, though. And it's an interesting place to have such a thing, since it is on the Riverwalk and there are bicyclists that come by, among other things. At one point early on, a group of seven bikers came through. I was impressed by that until toward the concert's end, when 20 bikers came by. Wow.
The concert itself went well. Overall they sound good, though they could use more bass instruments. Part of it sounded a little light in spots. And a few spots were wobbly, but nothing they couldn't play through. They did about a dozen songs, similar to what my band does, and I knew or recognized seven of the songs. It was nice to hear things I wasn't familiar with. Mr. Heath was funny, saying he realized this was more of an older folks concert, since some of the songs were from the 1800s, some from the early 1900s, one from 1924. There was one contemporary song in there, "Happy" by Pharrell Williams (and he had to pause to think of Pharrell's name, too), which came during a special presentation. There is a local man who's been a great friend to the band and got them a grant or two for music and instruments and they wanted to thank him, so they called him onstage and gave him a trophy of sorts (it was at this time that they passed around the containers for donations), then said they were playing the next song because it described how the band felt about the man. That was sweet. I went up to say hi after the concert, and not only did I see Mr. Heath, I saw a classmate of mine in the flute section. She was one of the two piccolo players. (They both asked why I wasn't in the band. Sorry, I'm already in a band. When Mr. Heath heard which one, he went, that's fine, you keep playing with them! Heh. But the rehearsals conflict, so I could only do one of them, not both.) It's been warm this weekend, so I got a little sweaty toward the end of the concert, but it was only about an hour long so that's not too bad. I made sure to get gas before I went home, and then I got to hear a bit about dad's trip, and now we're just relaxing. Which is good. Today was busier than originally expected.
Grandma: So we have this sale coming up at the park, and I was thinking maybe your mom could take a day off from work to help me! (It's on a Friday. It's like a rummage sale; grandma would be selling items.)
Me: She just used her last sick day and I think it's too soon for her to arrange for a vacation day.
Grandma: Oh, well I was just thinking she could use one of her special days…
Me: ?
Grandma: …Like from when Papa was sick.
Me: You mean FMLA?
Grandma: Yeah!
Me: That's not how that works. Besides, that expired like two years ago.
Grandma: I think she signed up again when I had my accident.
Me: Okay, but that only lasts so long--it doesn't last the whole year. And it's for *medical* purposes.
Grandma: But she would be helping me!
Me: Your garage sale doesn't count! Besides, I think they require proof, like a doctor's note.
Grandma: …Oh. Guess I'll scratch that thought from my memory.
Yes, grandma. Good idea. Looks like I no longer have to question where my mother's deviousness comes from.
…Or mine, for that matter. :P
At this point I have to pull one load from the dryer, put the last load in the dryer, and take a shower. We got off the phone about 1, and I wanted to leave the house at 2 to run an errand. I was ready at 2, then realized I had to take the last load out of the dryer, so doing that all set me back 10 minutes. You know, it'll be fine, you're just making a quick run to the store.
Aldi is the closest market, and I needed a few things. Dad had called about noon, before grandma, to say he was on his way home and calling from Madison, and he told me he'd go shopping tomorrow. I let him know I needed stuff like milk and bread, so he said I could pick up what was necessary and he'd get the rest tomorrow. And…go! I was concerned my Aldi would be closed for construction--the North Aurora one had been closed for a number of weeks earlier this summer--but all was well. I'd also needed granola bars, yogurt, and some fruit for tomorrow (band starts back up, so I need to pack lunch and dinner). All was well, and I was in line behind someone with a small order which was nearly all scanned…and I realized the milk I'd grabbed expires on the 21st. Great. I usually make my milk last two weeks. So now I had to pull out of line and go back to find milk that didn't expire so quickly. There were only three half gallons of 2% milk, all of which expired on the 21st; no go. I ended up buying organic milk because somehow that doesn't expire until November, which frankly concerns me, but whatever. And, of course, by this time there's just one checker (there had been two when I first got there, but the other one's sign read closed), but there's a line, and the family in front of me had a very full cart. Of course. The checker directed me to go to a different line, though nobody was there yet. Uh…okay…and she was all, go ahead, start unpacking your cart. Shortly, another checker appeared, and I was done quickly, but it was chaotic enough to make my head spin. Also, because of the construction, the single door into the place opens up onto where you come out of the checkout lines, so as I'm trying to pull my cart off to the side to bag my items, this woman is coming in the door and just standing there. Could you move, please? I get out of the way, bag my stuff, but then when I go to leave, the door won't recognize me and won't open. The two little kids from the family with the full cart are waiting there for their family to finish and kind of staring at me. So glad this is fascinating. Can one of you, like, wave your arms to try and trigger the door? Somehow it ended up opening, and I got out of there, but for a quick 20-minute trip, it was way more exciting than I wanted it to be.
To my surprise, dad's car was in the driveway when I pulled up. I was only home for a few minutes, just enough time to put the food away and use the washroom. I caught him up on a few things, then left.
I've had today marked on my calendar for a while; my town has a community band now, led by my high school band director, and today was their first actual concert. They've performed for other civic things before, but they've never been on their own, the sole attraction. I wanted to support them, plus I know I appreciate it when people come to my concerts. Naturally, they played at the Peg Bond Center at the Riverwalk, with a rain location in City Hall just across the parking lot. There was a chance of rain, and in fact it tried to sprinkle at one point, but it wasn't even enough to pull out an umbrella, though I'd brought one just in case. A couple young friends of the band were entrusted to hand out programs; later, they carried around containers in case people wanted to donate to the band. They are their own entity, so no tax dollars support them, everyone has their own instruments and stands, that sort of thing; the only way they make money is through donations. The concert itself was free, though. And it's an interesting place to have such a thing, since it is on the Riverwalk and there are bicyclists that come by, among other things. At one point early on, a group of seven bikers came through. I was impressed by that until toward the concert's end, when 20 bikers came by. Wow.
The concert itself went well. Overall they sound good, though they could use more bass instruments. Part of it sounded a little light in spots. And a few spots were wobbly, but nothing they couldn't play through. They did about a dozen songs, similar to what my band does, and I knew or recognized seven of the songs. It was nice to hear things I wasn't familiar with. Mr. Heath was funny, saying he realized this was more of an older folks concert, since some of the songs were from the 1800s, some from the early 1900s, one from 1924. There was one contemporary song in there, "Happy" by Pharrell Williams (and he had to pause to think of Pharrell's name, too), which came during a special presentation. There is a local man who's been a great friend to the band and got them a grant or two for music and instruments and they wanted to thank him, so they called him onstage and gave him a trophy of sorts (it was at this time that they passed around the containers for donations), then said they were playing the next song because it described how the band felt about the man. That was sweet. I went up to say hi after the concert, and not only did I see Mr. Heath, I saw a classmate of mine in the flute section. She was one of the two piccolo players. (They both asked why I wasn't in the band. Sorry, I'm already in a band. When Mr. Heath heard which one, he went, that's fine, you keep playing with them! Heh. But the rehearsals conflict, so I could only do one of them, not both.) It's been warm this weekend, so I got a little sweaty toward the end of the concert, but it was only about an hour long so that's not too bad. I made sure to get gas before I went home, and then I got to hear a bit about dad's trip, and now we're just relaxing. Which is good. Today was busier than originally expected.